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laid off/ disability benefits?

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lauria1957

Guest
What is the name of your state? Illinois
My husband is on short term disability through his company due to surgery earlier this year. He is going to have one more surgery and then should fully recover and be able to return to work. He received a phone call the other day saying that he is being terminated with a restructure. We will cobra his health insurance. My question is, can we also cobra his disability insurance. He will not be able to collect unemployment because he is too sick to work at present so what are our options??
 
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cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
There is no need to COBRA disability benefits. If he is collecting benefits they should continue regardless of his employment situation. It is not at all uncommon (or illegal) for employment to be termed before the end of disability eligibility, and in 25 years of working with employer sponsored benefits I have NEVER seen a plan where benefits stopped if the employment was termed.

In fact, during a recent contract I saw several situations where STD had rolled over into LTD (long term disability) and former employees were continuing to receive LTD benefits - TEN YEARS after their employment was termed.

So don't worry.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
WOW. he was due to convert to long term disability the day he was laid off. (6 months off) Should we contact the disability company and let them know he was termed or just proceed like nothing happened? Thank you so much for giving us some hope!
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Humph. I had a nice long detailed answer all typed out, and my link failed. Okay, trying again;

What I would do is call the disability carrier and ask them what the procedure is for converting from STD to LTD. There is probably some paperwork that will have to be completed by both your husband and his doctor. However, usually (I can't say always) that gets mailed out automatically. If you haven't received it already, you may in a few days. But call anyway, it can't hurt.

From what you say, I doubt very much that your husband's company has ANY intention of stopping benefits, and I think that for several reasons. For one, neither an STD policy nor an LTD policy is required by law in your state, and the maximum amount of leave they are required to give an employee on medical leave is 12 weeks. The fact that an LTD policy even exists (why have the policy if you're going to term everyone before they become eligible and then make them ineligible for benefits?) and the fact that they have a six month medical leave instead of a 12 week one, says to me that they are concerned about their employees and won't leave them twisting in the wind. Again, it would be a waste of time and money to even have an LTD policy if you weren't going to let people take advantage of it.

I REALLY wouldn't worry. It doesn't sound at all as if your husband's employer is going to be the first one I've ever heard of to stop benefits on termination.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
Thank you so much! I'll let you know if they surprise you. The HR guy told him on Friday that it would be his last day of disability but it didn't sound right to me either. :eek: If it comes out different than you expect, I'll let you know who the world's worst company is! Thanks again.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Just one thing to keep in mind, lauria, a word of caution. I almost included this above, but decided not to scare you. Now I think I'd better.

The eligibility requirements for LTD and STD are often NOT the same. It IS possible for someone's medical condition to qualify for STD and not LTD. While I haven't often seen this, which is why I had initially decided not to mention it, it does occasionally happen.

It is POSSIBLE (and I'm saying this without knowing anything at all about your husband's condition, and not a thing about your disability policies) that it could be his last day of disability, not because he's been termed, but because he doesn't qualify for the LTD benefits.

It's also possible that your HR person doesn't understand how the policy works.

In any case, definitely call the LTD carrier. The worst thing that can happen is that you're turned down.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
They haven't even started the process for the long term yet. They are still paying him on the short term policy. The long term pays at a higher rate and we pay a premium for that. I don't think he will qualify for long term because he will be ok after the next surgery (crossing my fingers and toes). He had a relatively simple surgery in the spring that went very bad and we have spent the last six months cleaning up the mess so to speak. However, we should be able to put all this behind us in the next 8 - 12 weeks. It's really illness as opposed to disability. His disability company shows him still on short term with another payment due next week, so I'm hoping it just goes like this for a little longer. Thanks again and we'll call them tomorrow.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
Soooooooooooo, can I post the name of the world's worst company or what? I spoke with them today and they are indeed cutting him off as of the day he was laid off. The policy is good for a year at short term but terminates when employement ends no matter what the reason for termination is. They stated, that's our policy!
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Well, that is indeed a first for me (and after two and a half decades, too)! I'm very sorry to hear that.

No, not a good idea to post the company name.

Who did you talk to? HR or the LTD carrier?
 
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lauria1957

Guest
I talked to the carrier (an unamed national company who administrates the policy/company is self insured) She said it was their policy but she did talk to the company to make sure they weren't making a special allowance for him and they told her no. It just doesn't seem fair since we pay part of the premium!
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Do you have a copy of the SPD (summary plan description)? If not, call HR and ask for one. You are entitled to a copy by law.

Read it YOURSELF and see whether or not it says anything in the policy about benefits ending on the last day of employment. In fact, once you get it, find the section on how benefits terminate, open this thread again and post it, word for word (just that one section) so that I can see the EXACT wording. Be sure to open this same thread again, or else post a link so that I remember everything we talked about. (I respond on several sites beside this one and read probably a couple hundred posts a week, total, so it's hard to remember details without prompting - sorry!)

I have half an idea for you but I have to know exactly what the SPD says to know if it's even worth telling you about, let alone pursuing.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
Tried to get on the website and they have disabled his password already! That's kind of weird since they are continuing his medical, dental and vision for three months and he may need the website. We will call in the morning. Thanks again for your help. Tried to PM you...thought you would get a kick out of which fortune 500 company this is!
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I keep my PM turned off for professional reasons. Sorry. I have an idea who it is, anyway! :)

Before you call, if you have any of the paperwork that he was given when he first was hired, go through that. Often (though not always) the SPD is part of that package. But if you don't have it there, definitely call, and keep me posted.
 
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lauria1957

Guest
Got it! His benefits are on a CD so it took a little while. There are a couple of sections so I will quote all of it. Thanks again.

Disability Benefits after Termination of Employement

If you disability period continues past the date your employment with the company ends, CDP benefits may still be payable after your termination date for the same length of time as they are under Califonia's SDI (See how to apply for CDP benefits). For all employees who are eligible to receive benefit payments after their employment ends, any prior payments made by the company are included in determining when your maximum benefit payment has been made.

The following chart shows how your payments are affected if your disability period starts before and continues beyond the date you terminate employment with the company for any reason including retirement.

If you terminate Employment during a disability period:

California = CDP benefits will be paid in the same amount and for the same length of time as California's SDI would pay them. Any payments made prior to your termination of employment will be included in the determination of the remaining amount and duration of your payments.

A state other than California that has a mandated short-term disability plan = Any benefits payable will be determined by the short term disability plan of the state in which you work

A state that doesn't have a mandated short term disability plan = Payments will end.

Comprehensive Disability Plan
When CDP Payments Begin and End

Full-time employees

If you meet all eligibility and certification requirements and your claim for benfits has been approved, you will be eligible for benefits from the first day you miss work due to your disability. Benefits are paid according to your normal pay schedule - biweekly or weekly - and continue until you recover from your disability, die or use all your CDP benefits, whichever comes first. The maximum duration of benefits is FPSL and hospital days (if available) plus up to 52 weeks of extended benefits.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Well, it was a nice try. Unfortunately, it does state conclusively that payments will end at termination if you are in a state without state-mandated disability benefits, and that includes Illinois. (Only five states and Puerto Rico have mandated disability benefits.)

I was getting excited there until I saw that last statement.

I'm still shaking my head. I'm serious when I say that I've NEVER seen or even heard about a plan that terminated benefits at the end of employment, if the employee's condition still qualified him for benefits, and I've been working with employer-sponsored benefits my entire working life.

I'm out of ideas as far as disability benefits. The only thing I can tell you at this point is that when he is medically cleared to return to work, he should be eligible for UC from that point on.
 

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